Winter, Year 13 of Konoha.
The wind and snow of the Land of Iron carried the stench of money and cold calculation from the Tailed Beast trade, rippling the surface calm of the entire Shinobi World.
Yet far across the oceans, in the southeast of the British Continent, the city of the "New Capital" seemed to exist in another season, another world.
The rainy season had long passed. Now came the dry, cool weather of the so-called "dry season," and sunlight spilled generously over the ever-growing city-state, illuminating its massive stone walls, orderly brick-and-stone houses, bustling markets, and newly reclaimed fields in the distance.
The air no longer held only the stink of sweat, blood, and gunpowder. More scents belonging to "life" and "order" had begun to mingle with them-the toasted fragrance of freshly baked wheat cakes, the sour tang of tanning leather, the smell of sparks flying amid the clang of the smithies, and even the faint fragrance of flowers and plants drifting from the windowsills of certain wealthy Citizens.
The changes were subtle and continuous. Perhaps the most immediately visible was clothing.
Two years earlier, most people throughout Great Britain, from Yutian down to the lowest Slave, had worn crude animal hides, coarse hemp, or tattered garments that barely covered them.
Citizens and Freemen had fared slightly better, but even they had worn nothing more than uniformly issued dark gray jackets and trousers, sturdy but utterly devoid of beauty.
Now, however, walking along the New Capital's main street, one could clearly distinguish rank, and even... a little "respectability."
Citizens, especially those with positions or property, had begun to pursue "proper attire."
The men wore better-fitted, dark or navy-blue long tunics with standing collars, short leather or fine cotton jackets over them, leather belts at their waists, and tanned,